Analytical performance and comparability of the determination of triglycerides by 12 Lipid Research Clinic laboratories.

Twelve Lipid Research Clinic laboratories performed automated fluorometric triglyceride analyses on four control serum pools of known concentration by a modified Hantzsch reaction. The analyses were done during a two-year period, with use of common standards, methodology, and quality-control procedures. Estimates of analytical bias, variability, and short- and long-term trends for each instrument and for the entire group of LRC instruments are presented. High accuracy, precision, and interlaboratory comparability were achieved through rigorous standardization and control of the entire analytical procedure. Individual instrument biases varied from an average of 4.9% below to 1.0% above reference values. Between-run variability was often less than within-run variability and interlaboratory variation was substantially less than intralaboratory variation. The total standard deviation for all instruments ranged from 37 to 63 mg/liter. Only 5 to 14% of this variation was due to differences among instruments. The among-instruments standard deviation ranged from 12 to 17 mg/liter; the between-run, within-instrument standard deviation ranged from 29 to 46 mg/liter, and within-run standard deviation from 27 to 40 mg/liter. The significance of the results for long-term collaborative studies is discussed.